President's wartime powers override law, document argued
Washington Post Apr 2, 08 3:42 AM CDT
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Laws banning torture and assault should not apply to US military interrogators overseas, argues a 2003 Justice Department memo released yesterday. The Defense Department was told not to rely on the memo nine months after it was issued, but it established a legal foundation for controversial interrogations, the Washington Post reports. The document contends that presidential wartime powers override laws and treaties, and details justifications for using aggressive tactics against suspected terrorists.
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OPINION
Brzezinski says it can't finish soon enough; Boot says US mustn't leave Iraq in lurch
Washington Post Mar 31, 08 11:36 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Advisors to Barack Obama and John McCain spar over ending the Iraq war in Washington Post editorials, with Zbigniew Brzezinski saying rapid departure will likely bring stability, and Max Boot arguing it would spell disaster. The former national-security adviser says much jihadism is product of anti-American fervor, a charge Boot dismisses—adding it’s sunny optimism to expect relief at US departure.
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Ominous video showed Matt Maupin surrounded by masked men
Cincinnati Enquirer Mar 31, 08 3:08 AM CDT
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The remains of an Ohio soldier who was captured in Iraq four years ago have been found, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer . DNA tests identified the remains as Matt Maupin, 20, an Army general told the young soldier's parents. Maupin had been listed as missing in Iraq since his fuel convoy was ambushed west of Baghdad in 2004.
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Updated
He offers weakened Maliki a truce deal as violence continues
BBC Mar 30, 08 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to leave the streets of Basra and other cities, reports the BBC, in an effort to end clashes with security forces. “Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us,” Sadr said, but minutes after his statement was released, militia shells hit Basra’s palace, and attacks on the Green Zone persisted throughout the day.
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Iraq war flick Stop-Loss stumbles in at no. 8
Variety Mar 30, 08 4:46 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Gambling flick 21 played to win this weekend and banked $23.7 million, scoring top spot at the box office, Variety reports. But it failed to revive overall ticket sales, which are down 17% from last year's frame and about a third for the year. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! kept winning with $17.4 million at no. 2 and Superhero Movie took home $9.5 million for a disappointing third.
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Downloading, disconnection leaving generation without a soundtrack
Politico Mar 29, 08 12:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
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So where are all the anti-war anthems? Opposition to the Vietnam War spawned a genre of classic counterculture songs, but not so the Iraqi war, despite widespread opposition. The main reason, Politico notes, is the narrowed scope of the music industry today. Singers still sing protests songs, but only their particular fans tend to hear them—alone with their iPods.
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US widens its airstrikes, and Sadr tells followers to keep their weapons
Daily Telegraph (UK) Mar 29, 08 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser)
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As the Iraqi army struggles to combat militias in Basra, British troops for the first time directly joined the fight, and American forces expanded their bombing beyond the militia stronghold. The Brits, who had previously provided only logistical and air support to the Iraqis, fired on an insurgent mortar team in Bosra, the Telegraph reports. Moqtada al-Sadr, meanwhile, told his soldiers not to surrender their weapons.
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US influence limited in potential quagmire, fight likely to drag on: military officials
CNN Mar 29, 08 5:33 AM CDT
(Newser)
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As US troops are drawn deeper into the four-day-old Iraqi crackdown on militants in Basra, critics see a long and difficult road ahead. While President Bush praised the operation as a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq," military officials murmured that the battle "is going to go on for a while," CNN reports.
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OPINION
Righty says speech shows foreign policy shift; lefty has deja vu
Salon Mar 28, 08 2:19 PM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain’s foreign-policy address Wednesday split watchers, with David Brooks, in the New York Times , declaring the Republican candidate a breath of fresh air and Glenn Greenwald, in Salon, seeing four more years of George W. Bush. Brooks says the “personal, nuanced and ambitious speech” shows McCain to be a JFK-style internationalist, highlighting maverick criticism of the Iraq war in late 2003.
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movie review
Movie about Iraq war loses steam stateside
Metacritic Mar 28, 08 7:24 AM CDT
(Newser)
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While some critics are calling Stop-Loss , Kimberly Peirce’s long-awaited Boys Don’t Cry follow-up, earnest and, at times, riveting, none of them seem to see it as the definitive Iraq war film. But the picture, about some GIs who’ve completed their tours of duty only to be told they’re being sent back to the front, still “strikes a universal chord that transcends politics,” writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone .
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President scolds Congress' calls for withdrawal
Associated Press Mar 27, 08 4:47 PM CDT
(Newser)
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President Bush praised the government of Iraq today for the offensive launched three days ago against militias in Basra, painting it as a sign of progress toward the goals of the US war, the AP reports. Bush also criticized Congress for calling for troop withdrawals so the military’s attention could be turned to anti-terrorism efforts elsewhere, such as Afghanistan.
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